Mohave County miner., 1887-03-05
rACTs ADOUT sILsvn.
The Uses sr lIse Metal In AneSenf
Times..-I'sns0us y1tncs.

Tinses.-I'snsous Mtncs.
Silver, next 10. iron and gold, II the
most extensively diifssed metal upon our
planet. II Is found frequently in nat,i-
raj state, though never chemically pure,
being invariably nlixed with gold or cop
per, or sometimes sntimony, arsenic, bis
mnth, quicksilver Or iron. II is distin-
guished by It's whilaness, liz brilliant lus-
tire when polished, its rnalleability and
It's Indifference 10 atmospheric Oxygen.
II is remarkable for its beauty, and 10 ten
times heavier than water. II does not
appear 10 have been in use before the
deluge. Moses doe, not aliude to It bef're
that event, but mentions only brass and
iron but in Abrsiam's time ii fad be-
come common, and traffic WAS carried on
with It, and its value was eight TO one of
gold. "He Was rich in silver and gold,
and bought sepulchre for ais vile Sarah,
for 400 shekels Of SILVER" $3.50. II was
not coined, but circulated only In bars or
ingots, and was always weighed. silver
always takes precedence in the Scriptures
whenever the metals are mentioned con-
jointly. "silyer and gold have ! none"
said Peter 70 the importunate beggar, "bsit
such as have give unto thee, Silver
Ii first mentioned in Genesis xiii, l5;
but where It was first found is unknown
TO as. II was extremely abundant in nm
cieat times. "And Solomon made silver
to be in Jerusalem as stones" q Kings =,
"a. "Cyrus heaIed up silver - the
dust (Zachariah iz, 81. In the earliest
times the Greeks obtained silver from The
Phanicians and Laurians. The chief
mines we're in sipllnos, Thessaly and At
tica. In the latter country the silver
mines ,f Laurian furnished an abundant
supply, and were generally regarded a.
the chief source OF the wealth oi Athens.
They ceased to be worked In the second
century of tho Christian era. The Ro-
mans obtained the most Of their silver
from the very rich mines o( Spain, which
had previously been worked by the Car
TIM ginIans and the Pho,nicians, and
which, though abandoned for those Of
Mexico, are still unexhaussed. The most
important Use for silver among tine Greeks
Was for money. At Rome, on the con-
trry, il was not coined until b. c. 260.
Silver, I'm It's relative value 10 god, has
varied greatly at different times. In the
days OF patriarch Abraham IL was eight
to one; b. G. 1000 II was twelve TO one;
B. e. 500 il was thirteen TO one; at the
commencement of the Christian era II
Was min. to one; A. ID. SCOTT was eighteen
20 one in 100 II vas eight TO one in 1916
II was six 10 one In 1851 1t was Two TO
one; IN 1900 it was ten to one ; In 1927 it
Was th.s.een to one; In 1900 Il was fifteen
and hall to one. It maintained the
latter ratio until ls72, when il began to
rise, and in 1875 it attained TO twenty TO
one; IT soon afterward gradually declined,
then advanced again, and on the frstday
Of August 1886, reached the highest point
ever known, twenty-tw and one quarter
to one, since which il has gradually de.
clined to txenty TO one.
Silver, ~ regards its mines, IL repre-
sented in every portion oi our planet.
The richest silver rHiDe in the world is at
Potosi. II is situated on an elevation 49,
600 feet above the level Of The sea, in a
region Of perpetual SNOW. II has
always been worked iu very rude man
ner, but il has already produced $780,
0Oo, 900 and shows no signs ,d exhaustion.
The highest silver deposit in the world Is
on King Solomon's mountain ia Colorado,
II 900 feet above the Pacific ocean. The
largest nugget VI silver yet obtained was
dug up in Arizona, and weighed 1920
ounces, valued at the same number OF
dollars. The annual product Of the silver
mines Of North Amsrica is estimated 70
be ts5, 10000 Their total product has
amounted to s4,ss5, 900 900, more than
one-third Of the entire product of the
world from the earliest times 70 the pres.
ent day. The silver mines oi Mexico were
wrought long before Cortez revealed them
TO the eyes Of Europe in 1913. Their an
nual product at the present time IL es,i.
mated to he tS2 ,0Oo, 900. Their total pro-
duct had amounted to $500, ,ooo, 900. In
1850 Nevada was not reckoned among the
silver producing countries Of the world.
In 1867 sbe could proudly point to an an
nual product Of sls,ooo, 900, but IL has
declined to n. .oOo, 900 at the presen, time.
The total product oil silver in Nevada has
amounted TO 1850, 100000. The annual
product of the silver mines Of South
America il Estimated to be SO, 900 900.
Their total product TO the present time
has amounted to sa,4io, 600, 900. The an
nual product OF the silver mines Of Amer
lea is estimated 10 be slIi ,0oo, 900, and
their total produrt has amounted to a..
o1y no lnn ynr.v.. tI..,, sb~n<, s;f,I. uf Al